


Forgive and Forge On

by chronologicalimplosion



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Episode Five Spoilers, F/M, post-ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-06
Updated: 2012-05-06
Packaged: 2017-11-04 21:58:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronologicalimplosion/pseuds/chronologicalimplosion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bolin was fully aware that, even though this was his own apology dinner, he was probably going to have to pay for it.</p>
<p>Korra and Bolin confront some things that need to be confronted, mostly because they're both really bad at dancing around issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgive and Forge On

**Author's Note:**

> Like the tags say, Post-ep five. No real Mako or Asami bashing (a few mild insults from Korra, but she's upset and brash, so you'll have to forgive her), for those (like me) who are already sick of the ship wars.
> 
> Quick and unedited, possibly to be continued at some indefinite point in the future.

Korra was buying him dinner. At least, that's how it went in theory. She didn't really have any source of income unless/until they came out on top and won the tournament, so in the meantime, most of the things she offered to buy were either paid for with avatar charm or with a sort of theoretical tab that she always made a big deal about remembering to pay back but which Bolin would never actually keep track of.

So he was fully aware that, even though this was his own apology dinner, he was probably going to have to pay for it.

Korra was talking through her mouthfuls, like nothing had ever happened, in the way of one who isn't trying to cover up heartbreak. Bolin was aware that he wasn't himself, that he probably wasn't going to feel all right around Korra for a while, but that was okay. He would live, and they would be okay. They would be good teammates, good friends, and he was there for her if ever she needed it, but he wasn't going to stop loving her any time soon, and he wasn't going to be able to forget her actions or his heartbreak much sooner. Forgiving was a whole lot easier than forgetting.

Suddenly, in the middle of a thought if not the middle of a sentence, Korra put down her chopsticks with a decisive clack and swallowed her food. “Okay, Bolin. I'm going to be upfront and say I'm not good at this. You're still mad at me, aren't you?”

That snapped him out of his trance. “What? No! That... that's not it at all. I'm not mad at either of you. Just... it's not going to go away, and... I don't know, but I've got a lot on my mind after everything that's happened.”

“I know, I'm a horrible friend. Is there anything I can do?” Her face looked so painfully hopeful it nearly killed him. “I just want us all to go back to being friends.”

And the way she asked didn't help him make up his mind on the words he had been tottering over voicing for most of the night. If anything, it pulled him equally harder in both directions. It was, in the end, the words themselves that pried his mouth open. “It's just killing me, the wondering. Did you just use me to make my brother jealous?”

“No! No! No, what? No! Bolin, you're my best friend! I mean, yeah, Mako's being a jerk who won't admit his feelings, but I guess it's not really my place to force him into anything.” She sighed and picked up her chopsticks to fiddle with her food, trying to get back on track. “I didn't want to string you along or _anything_ like that, and that's why I said no at first... I'm stuck in a really messy situation as it is, and I didn't want to pull you into it.”

“But you _did_. And then you still went and kissed my brother.”

“Yeah, that was dumb. But you're honestly the best friend I've ever had, and I just wanted to hang out with you after I got shot down point-blank by Mako. I thought it would make things better, and it did. But then the kids were rubbing it in, and I know they didn't mean to, and while I was feeling like crap about it, P- I got the advice to just go for it, and... and it seemed like pretty good advice, so I did. I wasn't thinking about you, and I know that doesn't make it any better, but I wasn't. So there. That's the honest truth.”

“Wait. Mako shot you down and _then_ you went out with me and _then_ you kissed him anyway?”

Korra planted her face against the table. “Thanks for making me feel like an idiot.”

“No! I just... I guess I don't understand. Why you didn't tell me right then, if you knew you weren't over Mako.”

“Because he was being a jerk!” Korra shouted, probably far louder than she should have in the public restaurant, picking her head up and just barely restraining herself from shoving away from the table and standing up. “Because you were being cute and smiley and I didn't want to let you down or anything when I wasn't planning on going after him any more at that point. I didn't want to ruin _your_ night, too.” Slowly, as she spoke, she quieted back down, and there was a slightly hesitant pause before she added the last part.

“Bolin, I really _want_ to like you. You're so nice and funny, so charming. I _meant it_ when I said that you're one of a kind, that you're amazing. I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't met you. But... I don't know. I don't know anything right now and it's just so frustrating. I have a lot on my mind. We _all_ have a lot on our minds. Can you forgive me so we can all move on for a while?”

He didn't give himself a chance to look into her eyes, because he knew that he would break at what he saw there. Instead, he stood up, arms open, and began to walk around the table, but Korra met him halfway. He let his arms close around her. “I'm sorry,” she said, and he believed her.

“I told you, I _do_ forgive you. I'm just not good at ignoring things. That's a skill that you and Mako have. I'm _going_ to be thinking about it for a while. But we're still friends. Because I mean it. I've meant everything I've said to you so far.”

“Bolin?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop making me feel guilty.”

“But that's exactly what I'm _trying_ to do!”

Korra leaned back to give him a playful punch, and he mostly-pretended to recoil (Korra is really bad at playful punches), laughing honestly.

“You gonna finish the rest of your noodles?”

“Na. You?”

“No.”

“So... practice?”

“I am so gonna kick your scrawny little behind.”

“Oh, _scrawny_ , am I?”

Surprisingly, Korra did actually somehow manage to pay for the noodles, and it made Bolin feel bad enough about not eating all of his present that he started to slurp them down and it somehow, unspoken, turned into a contest.

Forgiving is easy. Forgetting is hard. But being himself with Korra is completely impossible  _not_ to do.


End file.
